Final Paper Outline

Author’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Final Paper Outline

The Research Gap

In managing emergencies, leadership plays an imperative role in alleviating the harm inflicted by calamitous incidents. Accordingly, the absence of adequate and successfully executed leadership can aggravate effects of emergencies (Ga, 2014; Mazo, 2015). Managing catastrophes and disastrous events require leaders to possess specific abilities, competencies, skills, and aptitudes. Such attributes and traits enable leaders to effectively manage major emergencies that depend on the emergencies’ scope, the prevailing environmental conditions, and the firms these leaders lead (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). Emergency managers should also demonstrate the capacity and prowess to develop and implement policies and programs that meet the emergency management goal. Primarily, the goal entails enabling vulnerability curtailment, ecological protection, and multi-organizational emergency coordination enrichment while limiting the loss of life and property (Heintze & Thielbörger, 2018; Kapucu & Özerdem, 2011).

Leadership and crises are intertwined concepts because one naturally complements the other. While crises and emergencies do not have the same meaning, leaders in the management of crises must possess specific skills, knowledge, metacompetencies, and proficiencies to effectively execute their essential responsibility. This responsibility involves being able to respond to and manage unpredictable events, catastrophes, uncertainties, and threats arising from these crises, normalize situations, and reform institutional structures to facilitate damage control and prevention (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012; Smits & Ally, 2003). Also, contemporary crises might emanate as effects of globalization, unprecedented effects of pandemics such as COVID-19, technological advances in information and communication technology, and cultural, financial, and operational processes in emergency management establishments. So, leaders should demonstrate an understanding of these causes of crises and their associated rapid changes to know how to provide proper direction on dealing with them.

Given the broad scope of leader responsibilities in handling challenging emergency conditions, it is imperative to explore the role of leadership in emergency management.

The Explanatory Questions

What role does leadership play in emergency management?

What skills and competencies are important in realizing this role?

The Thesis (Argument)

I believe that when responding to emergencies, leaders must take charge of the prevailing situations, manage networks, mitigate the emergency effects, and depict decisiveness and flexibility amidst uncertainty, chaos, and anxiety.

Leaders must possess specific characteristics, skills, and abilities developed via training and experience to enable them to manage crises and emergencies.

Themes

The three themes that will be part of my course term paper include the following:

Theme 1: Handling Routine Emergencies and Severe Events

This theme delves into the specific activities characterizing the role of leaders in managing catastrophes, routine emergency scenarios, and extreme incidents in diverse emergency contexts.

Supporting Perspective:

Demiroz, F., & Kapucu, N. (2012). The role of leadership in managing emergencies and disasters. European Journal of Economic & Political Studies, 5(1), 91-101.

The authors’ perspective is that an array of leadership competencies are necessary for emergency managers in their leadership role of handling routine emergencies, major catastrophes, and extreme incidents.

Alternative Perspectives:

Van Wart, M., & Kapucu, N. (2011). Crisis management competencies: The case of emergency managers in the USA. Public Management Review, 13(4), 489-511.

The article examines the role of leadership in crisis management and the competencies that the involved leaders must possess.

Trainor, J. E., & Velotti, L. (2013). Leadership in crises, disasters, and catastrophes. Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(3), 38-40.

This article looks into the role and activities of leaders and leadership in managing crises, catastrophes, and disasters, emphasizing the significance of different leadership abilities.

My Perspective

Leaders should be competent and skillful to manage diverse incidents and scenarios in emergency settings.

Summary:

The articles will offer insightful evidence to support the theme of handling routine emergencies, major catastrophes, and extreme incidents in that they particularize the key activities included in the leadership role.

Theme 2: Competencies, Essential Skills, and Metacompetencies

Leaders in emergency management need to attain all-inclusive excellence by possessing a complete blend of competencies, essential skills, and metacompetencies.

Supporting Perspective:

Gerras, S. J., Clark, M., Allen, C., Keegan, T., Meinhart, R., Wong, L., … & Reed, G. (2010). Strategic leadership primer. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks PA.

These authors offer a comprehensive list of the strategic leadership competencies, which are deemed relevant to leaders in emergency management.

Alternative Perspectives:

Wong, L., Gerras, S., Kidd, W., Pricone, R., & Swengros, R. (2003). Strategic leadership competencies. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks PA, Strategic Studies Institute.

The article delineates the various metacompetencies that leaders in disaster and emergency management would find valuable in accomplishing their role.

Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., & Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard Business Review, 91(1), 131-134.

This article outlines several essential skills that leaders in emergency management must possess to effectively execute their mandate.

My Perspective

Leaders must work towards attaining a blend of competencies, skills, and metacompetencies to excel in emergency management activities.

Summary:

These articles will collectively guide my arguments for the theme of the competencies, skills, and metacompetencies that emergency managers need to effectively execute their roles.

Theme 3: Significance of Training and Experience

Leadership training and exposure to leadership experience are vital in facilitating the development of leadership skills, competencies, and abilities as they engage in managing catastrophic events that lead to emergencies.

Supporting Perspective:

McDermott, A., Kidney, R., & Flood, P. (2011). Understanding leader development: Learning from leaders. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32(4), 358-378. Doi: 10.1108/01437731111134643.

These authors examine how emerging and aspiring leaders can learn and gain insights from senior leaders’ leadership experiences to develop their leadership proficiencies.

Alternative Perspective:

Baron, I. S., & Agustina, H. (2017). The effectiveness of leadership management training. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 16(2), 7-16. Doi: 10.17512/pjms.2017.16.2.01

The authors emphasize the importance of leadership development training by quantifying the effectiveness of leadership management training for top-level executives.

My Perspective

Ongoing training and experience are imperative to developing the skills, competencies, and abilities of leaders in emergency management roles.

Summary:

These articles will provide evidence to back the theme of the importance of training and experience in advancing the proficiencies and capabilities of emergency management professionals.

References

Baron, I. S., & Agustina, H. (2017). The effectiveness of leadership management training. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 16(2), 7-16. Doi: 10.17512/pjms.2017.16.2.01.

Demiroz, F., & Kapucu, N. (2012). The role of leadership in managing emergencies and disasters. European Journal of Economic & Political Studies, 5(1), 91-101.

Ga, R. (2014). Leadership in handling disaster: Indonesian leaders in handling disasters. Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Gerras, S. J., Clark, M., Allen, C., Keegan, T., Meinhart, R., Wong, L., … & Reed, G. (2010). Strategic leadership primer. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks PA.

Heintze, H. J., & Thielbörger, P. (2018). International humanitarian action. NOHA Textbook: Springer International Publishing.

Kapucu, N., & Özerdem, A. (2011). Managing emergencies and crises. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Mazo, G. N. (2015). Lessons in leadership amidst the devastation of super typhoon Haiyan. International Journal of Social Sciences Research, 3(3), 97-110.

McDermott, A., Kidney, R., & Flood, P. (2011). Understanding leader development: Learning from leaders. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32(4), 358 – 378. Doi: 10.1108/01437731111134643.

Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., & Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard Business Review, 91(1), 131-134.

Smits, S. J., & Ally, N. E. (2003). “Thinking the unthinkable”- Leadership’s role in creating behavioral readiness for crisis management. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 13(1), pp. 1 – 23. Doi: 10.1108/eb046448.

Van Wart, M., & Kapucu, N. (2011). Crisis management competencies: The case of emergency managers in the USA. Public Management Review, 13(4), 489-511.

Wong, L., Gerras, S., Kidd, W., Pricone, R., & Swengros, R. (2003). Strategic leadership competencies. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks PA, Strategic Studies Institute.